Nov. 23 (UPI) — Threats and violence against drag and transgender events surged nationwide throughout 2022, according to an LGBTQ advocacy group conducting one of the first comprehensive studies into anti-gay activities following the deadly mass shooting at an LGBSTQ nightclub in Colorado last Saturday.
GLAAD, one of the world’s foremost LGBTQ advocacy groups, counted at least 124 cases in at least 47 states where anti-gay activities or significant threats had targeted drag events throughout 2022.
Texas saw the most anti-gay threats and protests this year, with 10 such occurrences in the Lone Star State. North Carolina was next with nine episodes, followed by Illinois (8), California (6), Tennessee (6), and Georgia (5).
The majority of protests and other such incidents occurred during Pride events over the summer and fall and were punctuated by violent rhetoric and false claims in campaign leaflets that targeted drag performers, the report states.
The analysis recalled several incidents that made headlines months ago.
In late July, the founder of a Neo-Nazi group and two other men were arrested in Boston during a protest against a drag queen story hour for children. And days later, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed his state was investigating a restaurant that went viral after a video showed children at one of the establishment’s drag brunch events.
More recently, one of the more serious incidents occurred at a donut shop in Tulsa, Okla., when an assailant firebombed the store in October following a drag event.
Many small cities and towns throughout the South and Midwest have also become staging grounds for hate due to their proximity to large LGBTQ-inclusive communities.
Protests disrupted gay pride events in big cities like Philadelphia, Memphis, Dallas, Cleveland, Las Vegas, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Boston, Miami, Denver, and Phoenix, the study noted.
The analysis also pointed to multiple anti-gay protests in New York City, as well as anti-gay protests in San Francisco and Eugene, Ore., where more than 200 demonstrators took to the streets last month, some of them armed with high-powered rifles.
The Proud Boys, a far-right nationalist group, has also lent its support to anti-gay rallies in California, Maryland, and North Carolina.
The study blames right-wing media personalities and news outlets like Fox News and the Daily Wire for inflammatory messaging that likely stoked hostilities ahead of several drag events — a claim backed up by a Media Matters analysis released earlier this month.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson, whose primetime show is No. 1 for the network, has described drag performances as dangerous for children. During a recent broadcast, a news crawl at the bottom of the screen shamelessly proclaimed, “Pervy men dressed as women dance provocatively in front of child for ‘all-age’ brunch at Texas restaurant.”
The report also calls out a right-wing social media influencer who uses the handle “LibsofTikTok,” whose steady stream of incendiary posts have incited outrage online and fueled anti-gay protests across the country all year.
Club Q, where five people were shot to death and 25 more were injured in last weekend’s shooting, was planning to host a drag brunch on Sunday in observance of Transgender Day of Remembrance.
